Acts of faith

Handling the CAA protests has become a headache for Mamata Banerjee

161-Mamata-Banerjee Salil Bera

On December 15, while on his way to a campaign rally in Jharkhand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an unscheduled stopover at Andal airport near Durgapur, West Bengal. A BJP team led by state vice president Biswapriya Roychowdhury was at the airport to brief Modi about the law and order situation in the state after the passing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Two days later, Roychowdhury met Modi once again at the same airport and gave him a booklet titled Jalta Hua Bengal (A burning Bengal).

While Bengal remains tense, in Assam and Meghalaya—which saw massive protests against the Act—the situation is returning to normal.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is leading a broad movement against the Act, resulting in widespread protests. Critics allege that the police were slow to respond and that the state administration waited for nearly 72 hours before ordering the police to rein in protesters. After 15 trains and several station buildings were set on fire, rail services have been suspended across the state.

Mamata blamed outsiders—a veiled reference to the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen—for the violence. As the situation worsened, Union Home Minister Amit Shah offered to send Central forces, but Mamata was against it. Under directions from Delhi, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar asked the chief minister and other senior officials to keep him informed about the situation. It was seen as an attempt to make Mamata fall in line under the threat of imposing president’s rule under Article 356. It seemed to have worked, as the government responded on December 17.

Handling the CAA protests has become a headache for Mamata as a ruthless crackdown will hurt her politically, but if the situation worsens, it will give the Centre a chance to intervene. Some of her supporters are already questioning her party’s stand on the Act. “Why did nine Trinamool Congress MPs abstain when the bill was voted upon in the Lok Sabha?” asked Abdul Russel, a cleric. “We want Mamata to expel them all.... We want her to finish off the RSS and the BJP in Bengal. Otherwise, we will bring dark days for her.”

While Bengal remains tense, in Assam and Meghalaya—two other states which saw massive protests against the Act—the situation is returning to normal. While the Assam government ruthlessly cracked down on protesters, the Meghalaya government used a conciliatory approach, promising the implementation of the inner line permit (ILP) system to keep migrants out. Meghalaya governor Tathagata Roy, who was reportedly against the ILP, has gone on leave and Nagaland Governor R.N. Ravi has been given additional charge of Meghalaya.

“We arrested 3,000 people. We, however, let go many young boys who were guilty of minor offences,” said Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, director general of the Assam Police. “But we showed no mercy to those who planned a major onslaught.” The introduction of the permit has slowed down protests in Manipur and Nagaland and also in areas in Assam covered under the Constitution’s sixth schedule. But Assam wants the entire state to be covered by the ILP system, which Shah is unlikely to allow.

While the situation has improved in the northeast, West Bengal is still on the edge. “Bangladeshi jihadis sheltered by the state government are out of the underground,” said West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh. “We have asked the governor to perform his raj dharma.”